“October 15 was like Christmas ….

“October 15 was like Christmas morning for me,” Brooks said of the day she received the state aid amounts.

The overall district tax levy is about $5.9 million which is down about $2 million or 25.4% from last year’s tax levy. With a slight growth in equalized value in the district, the final tax rate is $6.07 per $1,000 of equalized value. This works out to be a about a $226 savings on a home valued at $100,000, a drop of 27.9%.

The final tax rate is actually lower than what was projected at the annual meeting held in August. At that meeting, Brooks had projected a preliminary rate of about $6.24 per $1,000 of equalized value. Brooks noted that the drop puts Medford at one of the lowest tax rates in the state.

According to the Department of Public Instruction, the statewide average tax rate for all school districts last year was $9.18 per $1,000 of equalized value. The tax rate adopted by the school board on Monday is more than $3 per $1,000 below that average.

“That is exciting news for taxpayers,” Brooks said.